Obesity Health Risks
Some facts, risks and dangers of being overweight and obese:
- 68% of all Americans are overweight. Approximately 2-3% of Americans suffer from extreme or morbid obesity.
- In 1998, the American Heart Association added obesity to its list of major risk factors for heart attack.
- "Yo-Yo" dieting can also contribute to health problems and chronic disease.
- Even a small amount of extra body weight increases our risk of disease and may affect longevity.
- Those with existing disease, such as diabetics, already have a 2 to 3 times normal risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
- The risk of cardiovascular disease is increase 7.7 times for those that are obese.
- Nearly every health study done in the last decade mentions obesity and being overweight as a major health risk.
- In the Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health, of the ten leading causes of death in the United States, five are nutrition related.
- Severe obesity affects the health and quality of life of four million Americans.
- Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem. Being overweight is dangerous to our health.
- Forty million Americans have serum cholesterol levels that warrant medically supervised dietary intervention.
- About one in four Americans have high blood pressure. Being overweight or obese contributes significantly to this problem.
- It's clear that America could reduce its massive health care bill if Americans would just lose weight. Researchers at the Louisiana State University Medical Center recently estimated that the direct costs of obesity in the United States are at $39.3 billion per year or more than 5% of all medical costs.
- The average American has gained nearly 8 pounds in the last 10 years.
- Americans spent $38 billion a year trying to lose weight, according to Market Data Enterprises, but without much permanent success.